Apparatus for producing fibers from mineral materials



Oct, 30, 1962 G. A. RUBISSOW APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING FIBERS FROM MINERALMATERIALS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 50, 1960 FIG.2

George A.Rubissow INVENTOR.

AGENT.

Oct. 30, 1962 G. A. RUBISSOW APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING FIBERS FROM MINERALMATERIALS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 30, 1960 George A .RubissowINVENTOR AGENT.

United States Patent Ofiice A 3,060,498 Patented Oct. 30, 1962 3,060,498APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING FIBERS FROM MWERAL MATERIALS George A. Rubissow,New York, N.Y., assignor to Industrial Development Co. Establishment, acorporation of Vaduz, Liechtenstein Filed Sept. 30, 1960, Ser. No.59,610 Claims priority, application France Oct. 2, 1959 2 Claims. (Cl.182.6)

The present invention relates to the production of fibers from moltenmineral materials such as rocks, slags, glass, etc.

In order to form fibers of this kind, the most effective method consistsin operating by centrifuging. The molten material is led onto wheelsrotating at high speed, is projected by the wheels and is thus drawninto very fine filaments which solidify on cooling. While this method issimple in its principle, its practical application involves a great manydifficulties. In order to obtain a satisfactory production, it is theusual practice to utilize simultaneously a number of fiberizing wheels,yet the simultaneous supply of these wheel with molten material from thesame distributor necessitates great precautions if it is to be stableand homogeneous. In order to combine the stabilization of the fibers bycooling with a satisfactory hot drawing of the molten material, specialarrangements must be made for heating the fiberizing wheels. The activesurface of these wheels is frequently provided with grooves orformations intended to facilitate the flow of the liquid material.

These various necessities result in a complex installation which isdiflicult to operate.

The present invention has for its object a device of simple constructionwhich ensures reliable and eflfective operation.

This device comprises essentially, disposed in a plane inclined at 45, adistributor constituting by a rotating concave bowl, the interior ofwhich is directed upwards to receive the molten material, and aplurality of rotating discs uniformly distributed around the distributorand driven by shafts placed under the said discs, a blown current ofupwardly moving air or stream ensuring the carrying away of the fibersformed on the peripheries of the discs.

Experience has shown that, with this arrangement, the distribution bowlproduces a sheet of streams of molten material in the plane of its edgeand that these streams are transformed into long, fine and uniformfibers when they meet the edges of the discs.

The discs are fairly thin, stamped from a single sheet of steel, and areof very simple shape. Their active surfaces are formed by theperipheries of the discs, roughly turned, without special machining andwithout grooves. The precision of the sheet of liquid threads permitsthe thickness of the discs to be made very small. By reason of thenatural cooling effect, the heating of the discs is small and no coolingmeans are required.

The discs which constitute the fiberizing wheels are designed in suchmanner that their active edges have a large peripheral development,which implies that they must be given a large diameter as compared withthe usual types of fiberizing wheels. By reason of the small heatingeffect to which they are subjected, these discs can be carried by ballbearings mounted very close to their surface, which facilitates theconstruction and gives greater strength to the device.

The accompanying drawing shows one embodiment of the device according tothe invention. Therein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the device in vertical cross-section;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the device in side elevation; and

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line IVIV of FIG. 3.

The fiberizing device comprises essentially a distributor constituted bya concave dish or bowl 10 having its concave side turned upwards. Thisbowl 10 is carried by a shaft 11. This shaft is driven in rotation at aspeed of about 1,000 r.p.m.

In the plane of the edge of the bowl 10 there are arranged thefiberizing wheels 12 mounted on the shafts 13. These wheels, which maybe of any desired number, are uniformly spaced around and enclose thedistributor 10.

The bowl 10 and the wheels 12 are inclined at an angle in the vicinityof 45.

-Each wheel 12 is a flat disc of small thickness. It is constituted forexample by a member of sheet steel of small thickness of the order of 1"to 2", simply cut out and turned, the edge of the disc being left as itis finished by the turning operation.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a device comprising four fiberizingwheels 12. It will of course be understood that the device couldcomprise only three wheels or conversely six or eight wheels, or evenmore.

The wheels 12 are preferably provided with a diameter greater than 300mm., one foot. They may have a diameter of 500 mm. or more. The shafts13 drive the wheels 12 in rotation at a speed of 3,500 to 10,000 rpm.This speed is variable in dependence on the diameter of the wheels, thenature of the material treated and the diameter of the fibers which itis desired to produce.

The shafts 13 are carried by ball bearings, of which one is located inthe vicinity of the disc at 14.

A conduit 15 channels the flow of the molten mineral material. The flowis arranged so as to fall vertically substantially onto the center ofthe bowl '10. The unit constituted by the distributor 10 and the wheels12 is mounted in a casing 16, in the interior of which then is produceda rising current of air, indicated by the arrows 17.

The molten material falls into the bowl 10 and is projected bycentrifugal force in the form of a sheet 18 into the plane of the edgeof the bowl. This sheet encounters the edges of the wheels 12 and istransformed, by virtue of the high speed of rotation of the said wheels,into fibers 19, which are detached from the wheels 12 and carried awayinto the casing 16 by the flow of air 17. This entrainment isfacilitated by the inclination of the wheels 12 at 45.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the construction of the device. The distributor 10and the wheels 12 are mounted on a frame 20 carried by wheels 21. Theframe 20 carries a plate 22, inclined at 45, on which are fixed thesleeves 23 and 24 which carry the ball bearings of the shafts 11 and 13.

These shafts are driven by the motors 25, 26 and 26. The motor 25 drivesthe shaft 1 1 of the concave distributor by means of a belt 27. Themotors 26 and 26' drive the four wheels 12 in pairs through a suitablearrangement of belts 28. The furnace which supplies the conduit 15 withmolten material is shown at 29.

Around the wheels 12 and below the latter there is arranged a tubularring 30 with blowing nozzles 31. The ring 30 is coupled to a. source ofcompressed air or steam, not shown, which supplies jets of fluid 32spaced apart around the wheels 12 for carrying away the fibers as theyare formed.

The device shown may be provided with wheels 12 having a diameter of 500mm. which enables a production of 4 tons of mineral fibers per hour tobe obtained.

I claim:

1. A device for producing fibers from molten mineral material,comprising a cup-shaped distributor rotatable about an inclined axis,said distributor having an upwardly concave face freely accessible fromabove, a plurality of flat disks angularly spaced about the periphery ofsaid distributor and rotatable substantially in a common plane with saidperiphery perpendicular to said axis, supply means disposed above saiddistributor for cascading a stream of molten mineral onto the center ofsaid concave face, drive means beneath said plane for rotating saiddistributor and said disks, said distributor being positioned to deliversaid molten material to the upper flat fiberizing surfaces of saiddisks, and circulating means for creating around said distributor andsaid disks a gaseous flow moving upwardly along said axis for entrainingfilamentary fragments of said mineral material.

2. A device for producing fibers from molten mineral material,comprising an inclined duct of circular crosssection, a cup-shapeddistributor rotatable about the center line of said duct and positionedtherein, said distributor having an upwardly concave face freelyaccessible from above, a plurality of flat disks in said duct ReferencesCited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,156,982 Harfordet al May 2, 1939 2,318,244 McClure May 4, 1943 2,678,466 Tillotsou eta1. May 18, 1954 2,774,103 Graybeal Dec. 18, 1956 2,784,451 Bowen Mar.12, 1957

